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State must speak
against China in UNHRC: parties
SELF-HARM: Staying silent on Beijing’s
nomination to the UN rights body would undermine Taiwan’s ‘soft power,’ said 22
lawmakers from three political parties
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Legislators from across party lines yesterday demanded that the government
publicly announce its opposition to China joining the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC)
due to what they said were Beijing’s notorious human rights violations.
The Executive Yuan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are advised to issue
official statements opposing China’s acceptance on to the council and calling
for UN members to vote against Beijing’s nomination, a proposal tabled by the
lawmakers said.
Twenty-two lawmakers — 20 Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers, Taiwan
Solidarity Union Legislator Yeh Chin-ling (葉津鈴) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
Legislator Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) — endorsed the proposal, which also demanded
that Beijing immediately release 16 political prisoners, including Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) and lawyer Gao Zhisheng (高智晟).
China is almost certain to be named as one of the 17 new member states in the
47-member council at the UN General Assembly today, despite what critics call
its poor human rights record.
“China’s election [to the council] would be a great irony and we must stand up
against it. While Taiwan takes pride in its democracy and freedom, its so-called
‘soft power’ would be just an illusion if the government stays silent about
Beijing winning a seat on the council,” DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) said.
“China remains an authoritarian, undemocratic one-party state. It has not
stopped oppressing Taiwanese, Uighurs and Tibetans, and its human rights
violations — including crackdowns on religion and political dissidents — are
shocking and unacceptable,” she added.
If President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration is serious about promoting
democracy and assisting the democratic movement in China, the government cannot
afford to keep quiet on this issue, Yu said.
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